Drugs, Democracy and Security: The impact of organized crime on the political system of Latin America

This fact-finding and policy review paper – commissioned by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) – is a comparitive analysis about the impacts of organized crime, and specifically drugs related crime, on the Latin American political systems. The focus of the study is on Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Bolivia.

The countries analysed in this study have different profiles with respect to

their internal stability

the level of crime related violence

the strength of political institutions, security apparatus and the judiciary and

the national policies with respect to coca cultivation, cocaine production and crime prevention

The effects on the political system, key institutions and political parties also differ by country.